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Three agencies have been invited to pitch against the incumbent,

Leo Burnett, for Mercedes’ pounds 9 million media buying account. John

Ayling & Associates, the CIA-owned Negotiation Centre and Mediapolis

will fight it out within the next two weeks. Planning will be handled by

the new Media Science joint venture between the creative incumbent,

Partners BDDH, and New PHD.

Royal & SunAlliance has appointed Universal McCann on a project basis to

handle the media planning and buying for its corporate brand advertising

campaign which begins in the autumn. However, the insurance company is

holding off from appointing a permanent media agency until next year.

Universal’s sister agency, McCann-Erickson, was appointed on a project

basis in August to handle the creative campaign.

Mills & Allen, the poster contractor which is part of the Havas media

empire, has shaken up its senior management in a reshuffle where M&A’s

UK chief executive, Colm O’Cuilleanain, takes up a senior post at the

company’s Paris headquarters. Philip Santini, the former UK chief

executive who moved to M&A in Paris in 1994, has left the company.

The copywriter, John Elsom, and his art director, Ken Sara, have been

axed by McCann-Erickson. The senior team had resigned from Mellors Reay

& Partners in January to rejoin Gary Betts and Malcolm Green, who had

left Mellors Reay to take charge of the McCanns creative department.

Betts and Green left McCanns in August to make way for Mike Court’s

arrival as creative director.

Western International has appointed a new marketing manager, Elly

McDonald, to work on new business, as well as brand position-ing and

profile. McDonald worked on the Institute of Practitioners in

Advertising’s advertising effectiveness initiative between 1994 and

1995, and was most recently in charge of new business at Maher Bird

Associates.

McCann-Erickson Manchester has won the pounds 4 million task of helping

to reposition Bass Taverns’ 120 Toby Restaurants around the UK. The

Birmingham-based restaurant chain has confined much of its advertising

to date to promotions in the local press and on radio, but it now

intends to take a more concerted look at its branding.

Equity, the actors’ union, is considering approaches to major TV

advertisers and agencies to urge them to help settle the dispute over

voiceovers, which has led to a boycott of commercials work by Equity

members. The union claims to have a long list of big-name artists who

are backing the ban.

Carlsberg-Tetley is understood to have approached the Advertising Agency

Register to help with the rethink of its advertising for Tetley bitter.

The account is held by Saatchi & Saatchi.

Rapture, the cable channel for teenagers which launches at the end of

November, is planning a launch campaign and is understood to be

searching for an agency and a media buying company to handle the

account, which is expected to top pounds 1 million.

ITV is to announce its new marketing director before the end of the

month. The chosen candidate is understood to have a strong fmcg

background, but ITV executives are remaining tight-lipped about his or

her identity.

Two Way TV, the interactive game system, has cut drastically its planned

pounds 20 million adspend, handled by Saatchi & Saatchi and Optimedia,

as it develops plans to work with digital broadcasters. The company’s

marketing director, Peter Cowie, a former client services director at

WCRS, is now looking for another job.

CDP has picked up the advertising task for Hampton Court Palace and

retained the Tower of London business following a seven-way review.

Media on the business, which is worth around pounds 1.2 million, remains

undecided.